Katy Perry
Katheryn Elizabeth "Katy" Hudson, better known by her stage name Katy Perry, is an American award-winning singer, songwriter, businesswoman, philanthropist, sex symbol, and actress from Santa Barbara. She is the first female artist to have 5 number one singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 from one album (Teenage Dream) and the second artist to accomplish such a feat (the first artist being Michael Jackson with his 1987 album, Bad). She is also noted for her fashion, which is often humorous, bright in color, reminiscent of different decades, and has often included food designs. Her philanthropy includes working with UNICEF to assist Madagascar children with education and nutrition. Early life She was born on October 25, 1984 in Santa Barbara, California, the second child of devout Pentecostal pastors Maurice Keith Hudson and Mary Christine Perry. Katy has a younger brother, David, and an older sister, Angela. She has Portuguese, English, German, and Irish ancestry. While Katy Perry was growing up, she became a part of her parent's ministry and sang in church from ages 9 to 17. She had to follow very strict religious rules. "Growing up I wasn't really allowed to listen to a whole lot of what my mom would call, secular music, and so I didn't have a whole lot of references as far as like, when the producer I was doing my demos was with was like, Okay so, who would you want to work with if you could work with anybody? I was like, I really have no idea." —Katy Perry She grew up listening to gospel music and was not allowed to listen to what her mother called secular music. Katy attended Christian schools and camps. As a child, she learned how to dance in a recreation building in Santa Barbara. She was taught by seasoned dancers and began with swing, Lindy Hop, and jitterbug. She took her GED during her freshman year at Dos Pueblos High School, leaving school to pursue a career in music. Katy initially started singing "because I was at that point in my childhood where I was copycatting my sister and everything she did." Angela practiced with cassette tapes, and Katy took the tapes herself when her sister was not around. She rehearsed the songs and performed it to her parents, who suggested she should take voice lessons. She grabbed the opportunity and began taking lessons. Recording career 1999–2006: Career beginnings At the age of 15, Katy's singing in church attracted the attention of rock veterans from Nashville, Tennessee, who brought her there to polish her writing skills. In Nashville, she started recording demos and was taught by country music veterans on how to craft songs and play guitar. Katy signed to the Christian music label Red Hill, under which she recorded her first album at the age of 15. Performing as Katy Hudson, she released the self-titled album in 2001. The album was unsuccessful, however, after the label ceased operations at the end of 2001. She later started using Perry, her mother's maiden name, as a stage name because "Katy Hudson" was too close to film actress Kate Hudson. At the age of 17, Katy left her home for Los Angeles, where she worked with Glen Ballard on an album for record label Island. The album was due for release in 2005, but Billboard reported it also went nowhere. She was dropped by Island Def Jam Music Group. Some of Perry and Ballard's collaborations included "Box", "Diamonds", and "Long Shot", were posted on her official MySpace page. "Simple", one of the songs she recorded with Ballard, was released on the soundtrack to the 2005 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. She signed to Columbia Records in 2004. Unfortunately, the label was not amenable with her vision, not putting her in the "driver's seat". Instead, one of Columbia's ideas was to pair Perry with the record production team The Matrix, who was working on an album, to serve as its female vocalist. Although the album was later shelved, she caught the attention of the music press: Her burgeoning music career led to her being named "The Next Big Thing" in October 2004 by Blender magazine. With no album project ongoing, Katy began recording her own. Eighty percent completed, however, Columbia decided not to finish it and dropped her off the label. While waiting to find another label, she worked in an independent A&R company called Taxi Music. In 2006, she was featured in the tail-end of the video to P.O.D.'s single "Goodbye for Now". She made a cameo appearance in Carbon Leaf's video,"Learn to Fly", and in Gym Class Heroes' video, "Cupid's Chokehold", playing the eventual love interest of lead singer Travis McCoy. Her songs eventually captured the attention of Virgin Records CEO Jason Flom, then head of Capitol Music Group, who signed her to Capitol Music in early 2007. 2007–2009: One of the Boys and MTV Unplugged After signing to Capitol Records, Katy began recording tracks for her second studio album, One of the Boys, and establishing her image was one of the immediate concerns of her management. A campaign was started in November 2007 with the release of the video to "Ur So Gay", aimed at introducing her to the music market. A digital EP led by Ur So Gay was later released to create online buzz. This was a successful move that resulted in bringing Katy to the attention of Madonna, who mentioned her on KISS FM and KRQ's John Jay & Rich morning show in Arizona. On March 10, 2008, she appeared as herself on the ABC Family television series, Wildfire, on the episode "Life's Too Short". While the buzz over Katy Perry was building, she went on the next step of promoting the album, undertaking a two-month tour of radio stations. The album's official lead single, I Kissed a Girl, was released in May 2008. With the song climbing atop the charts, they "establish her as a credible performer and make sure she isn't seen as just a one-hit wonder." The single was a commercial success, peaking at number one for seven weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. It has since become a major worldwide hit, topping charts in 30 countries, including Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. On June 12, 2008, she appeared as herself on the daytime soap opera, The Young and the Restless, and poses for the cover to the June 2008 issue of the fictional magazine Restless Style. One of the Boys was released on June 17, 2008 to mixed critical reviews. The album has reached number nine on the Billboard 200, and has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Her second single, "Hot N Cold", became her second top three single in dozens of countries around the world, including the United States where it reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as topping the charts in Germany, Canada, and Denmark. After Perry wrapped up her appearance at the Warped Tour, she went on tours in Europe. She later launched her first headlining tour, the Hello Katy Tour, in January 2009. I Kissed a Girl earned Perry a nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 2009 Grammy Awards. Katy was nominated in five categories at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, including Best New Artist and Best Female Video, but lost to Britney Spears. She won Best New Act at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards, which she co-hosted, and Best International Female Artist at the 2009 BRIT Awards. On February 9, 2009, both "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot N Cold" were certified three-time platinum by Recording Industry Association of America for individual digital sales of over three million. The Matrix's self-titled debut album, which features Katy, was later released via the team's label, Let's Hear It, during Perry's solo tour. When the release date was scheduled, I Kissed a Girl had been charting well. Matrix member Lauren Christy spoke to Katy about the decision, but she wanted to hold the release until the fourth single of One of the Boys had been dispatched. Despite their communication, The Matrix was released on January 27, 2009, via iTunes Store. During the summer of 2009, Katy Perry filmed a guest appearance for Get Him to the Greek. Her scene was cut, and does not appear in the final film. After the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, she would begin dating and later become engaged to Russell Brand, who starred in the film. They married on October 23, 2010. He filed for divorce on December 30, 2011, and notified her through text that their marriage was over. The two never spoke to each other again. The divorce became effective July 16, 2012. In 2009, Katy was featured on two singles: a remix of Colorado-based band 3OH!3's song "Starstrukk" in August (the idea for the collaboration came after her tour that featured 3OH!3 as the supporting act). The song was released over iTunes on September 8, 2009; and "If We Ever Meet Again", the fourth single off Timbaland's album Shock Value II in December. In October 2009, MTV Unplugged revealed that Katy Perry was one of the artists to perform for them, and that she would be releasing a live album of the performance, including two new tracks, "Brick by Brick" and Fountains of Wayne cover "Hackensack". The album was released in November 2009, and includes both a CD and a DVD. 2010–2012: Teenage Dream, Smurfs, and Part of Me Her third album Teenage Dream was released August 24, 2010 in North America and August 30 worldwide. The first single from the album is titled "California Gurls". Capitol Records sent the song to U.S. radio on May 7, 2010. The single took only four weeks to reach the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the fastest rising single from a Capitol Records artist since Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe" in 1967. On July 22, Perry released the cover art for Teenage Dream, a painting by Will Cotton, which resembles the shots of Perry in the "California Gurls" video where she is lying naked on the cotton candy clouds. She also revealed that the booklet of the physical edition of the album will smell like cotton candy. On July 23, 2010, the album's second single "Teenage Dream" was released. Katy released her own fragrance named Purr. It comes in a cat-shaped bottle, and is available in many countries including United States, United Kingdom, Mexico and Australia. She performed a version of her song "Hot N Cold" with Elmo from Sesame Street, which was originally scheduled to run on the 41st-season premiere of the educational children's program on September 27, 2010. Four days before the airing, Sesame Workshop announced, "In light of the feedback we've received on the Katy Perry music video..... we have decided we will not air the segment on the television broadcast of Sesame Street, which is aimed at preschoolers. Katy Perry fans will still be able to view the video on You Tube." The main reason was that parents complained about what appeared to be a great amount of cleavage shown by her dress. However, she was actually wearing a flesh-colored mesh that went all the way to her neck. Teenage Dream led Perry to nominations four awards at the 2011 Grammy Awards: Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Teenage Dream", and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for "California Gurls". Following the Grammys, Perry embarked on an extensive world tour, California Dreams Tour (consisting of 121 shows) and released "E.T." as the fourth single from the album, the peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for five non-consecutive weeks. The single was a remixed version featuring Kanye West. The music video for "E.T." was directed by Floria Sigismondi and features Shaun Ross as the main love interest. With "E.T." at number one on the chart of May 12, 2011, Katy became the first artist in history to spend 52 consecutive weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. In June 2011, she released the fifth single, "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)". A remixed version featuring American rapper Missy Elliot was released in early August. The single topped U.S. download and radio charts. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 on August 17, 2011, making her the first female artist ever to have five #1 singles from one album and the peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for two consecutive weeks. In July 2011, she made her film debut in the 3D family film The Smurfs as Smurfette. The Smurfs had a hit performance at the box office, earning $557,771,535 worldwide during its theatrical run. Katy Perry appeared at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards on August 28, 2011. She was nominated for ten awards, received the most nominations of the ceremony and was the only singer in history to have four different music videos shown on various categories, eventually winning three of those, including Video of the Year for "Firework", Best Collaboration and Best Special Effects for "E.T.". On September 17, 2011, her 69-consecutive-week streak in the Top 10 ended. On September 23, 2011, she attended the opening day of the 2011 Rock in Rio festival, which was extended to October 2. Other performers included Elton John and friend Rihanna. In October 2011, she released the album's sixth single, "The One That Got Away". On the week ending October 23, 2011, Katy became the first artist to ever have 3 songs (Hot N Cold, California Gurls and Firework) sell over 5,000,000 digital copies in the USA. She also is the artist with the biggest 4,000,000-seller amount. On November 8, 2011, she had announced on her twitter that she will release her next fragrance "Meow", a following to her previous. The bottle is a cat-shaped bottle (similar to her previous fragrance), but is a more light-pink color with a "M"-shaped collar. She also hosted Saturday Night Live on December 10, 2011. At the 2012 Grammys, Katy debuted her song "Part of Me". This song and "Wide Awake" (debuted May 2012) would be included in "Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection", the re-release of her Teenage Dream album. In June 2012, Perry revealed plans for launching her own record label, which will be an imprint of Capitol Records. She also became the new spokeswoman for Popchips. On September 25, 2012, Billboard named Perry 2012's Woman of the Year. In July 2012, her autobiographical movie, Katy Perry: Part of Me, was released in theaters. The film focused on her journey to fame as well as how her marriage to ex-husband, Russell Brand, fell apart. It also contained footage from her California Dreams Tour concerts. The movie received generally positive reviews. The following September, Billboard named her "Woman of the Year". Later that month, she became the spokeswoman for Popchips 2013:PRISM Katy released her fourth studio album PRISM on October 18, 2013 in Ireland, Italy, Slovakia, and Slovenia, and worldwide on October 22, 2013. The lead single off of PRISM is titled "Roar" and debuted August 10, 2013. The song became Katy's 8th number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, topping the chart for two weeks. It has also sold over 3.24 copies in the United States. Katy reprised her role as Smurfette in The Smurfs 2, which was released in theaters July 31, 2013. In August 2013, she released her third perfume "Killer Queen". Unlike Purr and Meow, the perfume bottle is not cat-shaped. "Dark Horse" was released as the album's first promotional single on September 17, 2013. "Walking on Air" was released as the second promotional single on September 30, 2013. "Unconditionally" was released as the second official single on October 16, 2013. She first performed her Prism tracks on October 22, 2013 at iHeartRadio. She also performed them the next day at the Hollywood Bowl where she hosted the "We Can Survive" concert. She will embark on the "Prismatic World Tour" on May 7, 2014 to promote the album. Awards :Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Katy Perry Discography :Main article: Discography Studio albums *''Katy Hudson'' (2001) *''(A) Katy Perry'' (2005) *''One of the Boys'' (2008) *''Teenage Dream'' (2010) *''Prism'' (2013) EPs *''Ur So Gay'' Live albums *''MTV Unplugged'' Re-releases *''Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection'' (2012) Performances :See "Concerts" in the menu or this link. *'2001:' The Strangely Normal Tour *'2008:' Warped Tour 2008 *'2009:' :*Summer Tour 2009 (with No Doubt) :*Hello Katy Tour *'2010:' :*Fearless Tour as a surprise guest. :*Teenage Dream Tour *'2011-2012:' California Dreams Tour Related Links *MySpace *Official Website *Facebook *Twitter *Pinterest *Instagram Perry, Katy